Average quarter-mile speed for males, optimum

I've always been intrigued with the potential that humans possess from birth, and this thread from a year ago piqued my curiosity:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=501192&page=0

And taken from the Natural History magazine are average speeds of various animals over a quarter mile, except for humans, whose maximum speed was calculated for 15 meters over a 100 meter race--obviously, the fastest human ever.

Animal Speed(mph)

Cheetah 70.00

Pronghorn antelope 61.00

Lion 50.00

Quarter horse 47.50

Elk 45.00

Coyote 43.00

Ostrich 40.00

Greyhound 39.35

Mule deer 35.00

Rabbit (domestic) 35.00

Giraffe 32.00

Reindeer 32.00

Cat (domestic) 30.00

Grizzly bear 30.00

White-tailed deer 30.00

Human 27.89

Elephant 25.00

Squirrel 12.00

Pig (domestic) 11.00

House mouse 8.00

So my question is: if the fastest human ever could hit 27+ miles per hour for a very short distance, and a great 400 meter runner averages 20 mph for a quarter mile (45"), what speed would the TYPICAL human male be capable, IF THEY WERE NOT living typical, American/European lives; i.e. they were living on the savannah, running after food all day long.

I think the average human male SHOULD be able to run around 17-18 mph for a quarter mile (50.0 to 52.9), IF they were living the way humans did as they evolved. After all, when you speak of how fast a cheetah runs, you don't say 'the world record' for a cheetah, but you assume that all cheetahs are pretty close to that 70 mph.

Not direct answer to your Q, but this is a true story; they have found feral humans, raised by animals, who are capable of speeds of 30 mph. They develop almost like animals. Extraordinary but true and you can check out documented evidence on the Internet.

I bet todays AVERAGE (sum of all times divided by number of all) adult males can run no faster than 10 mph. I say only half can break 90 seconds. Have you been to anywhere lately? People are fat and lazy.

Yes, todays' AVERAGE adult male is slow. I agree totally. But I'm not asking about today's average male, I'm talking about their potential, from birth if you will--not if they were trained by top coaches, but if they simply lived lives unfettered by modern conveyances and conveniences. If children ran or walked everywhere they went.

Then it's probably about what you said, 50-53, maybe a bit slower. It really depends on the percentage of people with predominantly fast twitch muscle fiber composition.

Even that may not always be accurate.

I read an article once about Sammy Lelei, a Kenyan 2:07:02 marathoner, who was biopsied at around 90% slow twitch or higher yet managed at one point in his career (probably not when in marathon training) to run a 48 second 400 meters. Crazy things are possible.

I'd be interested in seeing the ratio of fast to slow twitch muscle fibers for the average person. One theory I heard many years ago was that the distribution of fast to slow twitch fibers among the population closely resembled the distribution of races in track--so just as there are the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 3000, 5000, 10000, and marathon distances (for Olympics, at least), the general population's performance capabilities are similarly distributed.

That flies against the recent Nature article suggesting that Humans are truly endurance athletes (although, with a max speed of around 20 mph for the quarter mile, we certainly are not fast animals.)

Did you mean that you reckon that half the human race could run 400 meters in 90 seconds? If you did, I sure disagree with that. I'd think half the people on earth MIGHT be able to run it in 2:30. 5 years ago, out of shape except for a little running, swimming, biking,drinking I ran an all out 400 in 75; (my lifetime best is 52). Then I began to run and within 2 years got down to 58; but that was with training most would call finatical. But I could agree with one poster that a healthy male...brought up as a "hunter/gatherer"...could run 52ish...but only at the peak of their manhood like at 20 years old!

Q

But we're VERY fast animals for having only 2 legs. Consider that. And that gazelle dude they found in African ran on four legs and did about 40 in the savanna. Insane but true.

true story wrote:

I read an article once about Sammy Lelei, a Kenyan 2:07:02 marathoner, who was biopsied at around 90% slow twitch or higher yet managed at one point in his career (probably not when in marathon training) to run a 48 second 400 meters. Crazy things are possible.

not that suprising at all. abel anton, double world champ at the marathon, who has run 2:07+ (and coincidently in his first marathon ever beat sammy lelei) has a 1500 PR of 3:37.5 - so you have to figure him a pretty fast guy too.

in any case, this argument is ridiculous - 50-53 seconds? that is waaaaay too fast. sometimes our thinking gets skewed by the fact that we hang out with athletes all the time. there are plenty of people who are completely not athletic.

put it this way - there are roughly 145 million american males currently. i don't believe that at any given point in their lives that more than 50 million of them could run faster than 55 seconds.

that leaves almost 100 million who are slower than that. that'll drag the average down pretty quickly.

I'm trying not to let my being an athlete affect this--remember, it's not how fast current American males could run a 400, or even current American males who trained 100 miles a week. It's how fast ANY male who, from birth, lived a life of 'hunter/gatherer' as a previous poster put it (that's what i was trying to get across in my original post). If a squirrel can run a quarter at 12 mph, surely a human can do at least 15 mph, if not 17-18 like I proposed.

well well wrote:

And that gazelle dude they found in African ran on four legs and did about 40 in the savanna. Insane but true.

A human being with four legs? Perhaps you mean on all fours, but theres no way his arms could act as an additional 2 legs.

well well wrote:

And that gazelle dude they found in African ran on four legs and did about 40 in the savanna. Insane but true.

impossible.

peak of manhood is nowhere near 20 years old.

Gazelle dudes and feral humans who can run 30-40 mph? I'm skeptical.

More importantly, however, how did they find a domestic cat who was both willing and able to run a 30-second quarter? My cats, Wilbur and Alvin, are pretty quick when they have a strong incentive to elude my grasp, but they're much too smart to put themselves through a 30-second quarter.

In reality, most people could not maintain 7:30 pace for a lap and would lose to a mouse.

Please share you source on the feral humans. Interesting topic...rather surprised to hear of actual cases since it smacks a bit of Greystroke.

true story wrote:

Not direct answer to your Q, but this is a true story; they have found feral humans, raised by animals, who are capable of speeds of 30 mph. They develop almost like animals. Extraordinary but true and you can check out documented evidence on the Internet.

gsd wrote:

I'm trying not to let my being an athlete affect this--remember, it's not how fast current American males could run a 400, or even current American males who trained 100 miles a week. It's how fast ANY male who, from birth, lived a life of 'hunter/gatherer' as a previous poster put it (that's what i was trying to get across in my original post). If a squirrel can run a quarter at 12 mph, surely a human can do at least 15 mph, if not 17-18 like I proposed.

Of course the slow ones would get eaten by the cheetahs so the only Humans left would have to be very fast indeed!

The research I've done shows no proof of any feral humans running 40mph. The closest thing to that are some sketchy eyewitness accounts. I don't buy it.

It goes from 20 two 30 more or less. But look at what some of todays 19 and 20 year old guys are doing! How old is Eliud? How about Wend Mulugeta! Rupp? There are many out there today at that age challenging your strong statement; not to say you're wrong; but where do you think the peak of strength lies?